Cybercrime provides an overview of one of the newest and most challenging forms of criminal activity: crime carried out using modern communication technologies such as the Internet, with a focus on commonly used services including social media.
The course reviews the origins of these crimes in 'ordinary' crime, and traces how these crimes have developed, both in terms of technological sophistication and social organisation. It has a focus on how such crimes affect individuals, communities, businesses and governments; and responses that have been developed, particularly in policy and legislation.
The course also examines other regulatory responses to the emerging threats posed by the various forms of cybercrime, and considers their effectiveness, including the regulation of Internet providers and social media platforms.
The legal focus is on domestic laws in countries including Australia, but also on international legal harmonisation and law enforcement and judicial co-operation, the main international agreement being the Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime.
Topics include: unauthorised access, modification and impairment of computers and data; online fraud and forgery, scams, spam, identity theft, criminal copyright infringement; cyber stalking, harassment, child abuse material and online child grooming, sexting, voyeurism and other privacy invasions; and investigation, prosecution, sentencing and punishment.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Critically analyse problems, concepts and theories in cybercrime and propose appropriate solutions
- Undertake critical legal research, legal writing and resolution of complex legal problems with a transnational dimension across a range of issues and topics in cybercrime
- Incorporate social, policy, comparative or interdisciplinary approaches into analysis and critical evaluation of both cybercrime and enforcement responses
- Engage in original and critical reflection on cybercrime topics
- Synthesise and communicate legal, policy and theoretical perspectives on cybercrime issues effectively
Indicative Assessment
- Online discussions (10) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
- Critical research report no. 1 (20) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
- Critical research report no. 2 (20) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
- Research essay (50) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
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Workload
- Classes offered in non-standard sessions will be taught on an intensive base with compulsory contact hours (approximately 26 hours of face to face teaching). The course will also require advanced preparation through assigned readings. In total, it is anticipated that the hours required for completion of this course (class preparation, teaching and completion of assessment) will not exceed 120 hours.
- Classes offered during semester periods are expected to have three contact hours per week.
Click here for the LLM Masters Program timetable
Inherent Requirements
Not applicable
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
Please refer to the Wattle site.
The prescribed text will be: Gregor Urbas, Cybercrime: Legislation, Cases and Commentary (2nd ed., 2020,LexisNexis)..
Preliminary Reading
Cybercrime: Legislation, Cases and Commentary (2nd ed, 2020).
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 34
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2022 | $4740 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2022 | $6000 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
